Like seeing an old friend--when this machine last wobbulated, I was beginning a basic electricity course at Lowry AFB en route to becoming an aircraft weapons mechanic. Much later, I was to learn that wobbulated signals centered on 4300 MHz are the basis for commercial aircraft radio altimeters. Somewhere in between, I came to recognize the quarter-turn fasteners on the top of the box as authentic Dzus fasteners, the original quick-release fasteners used on the DC-3. I still have a screwdriver I cut down in 1965 to fit under DC-3 cowl flaps and unlock Dzus fasteners in the engine accessory cowling. Next, I will watch your video on VTVM restoration and learn what I might need before I dig my old Heathkit IM-28 out of the closet. Thanks for the motivation.
Great find Mr Carlson. I bet you smiled when you took off the bottom panel. There can't be too many manuals for that unit around anymore. I have an old 50's military FM transceiver (uses 1U4's etc). Was happy to find a schematic printed on a silk material folded away inside. Looking forward to another one of your excellent restorations !
+Todd Anonymous You Bet! That was a great surprise! One day I will build a portable radio project with those 1 Volt filament tubes. I have quite a few.
You might be surprised and find all the caps are still good. I have a lot of 40-60's military test equipment and radios and don't think I have ever changed one yet. I'm always amazed at the quality and durability of milspec capacitors. Many are hermetically sealed. Might be worth unhooking them and testing them for leakage. Thats what I do and haven't changed one yet. Will be nice to see this back up and running. I love old military gear. Mike
I repair Ampeg Tube Amplifiers and they too paste a copy of the correct Rev schematic inside the cover. I agree 5 Stars all the way !!! Very nice piece of gear you've shown us Paul - thank you.
I know this is a few years back Paul, but what a piece of kit!.You can see it was purpose designed and built especially for the job it did.Which is slightly different to the Marconi R1155 receiver that I am trying hard to fully restore.That was needed quickly, but hey it did an excellent job.Which is a tribute to the electronic guys who designed it.Just absolutely love this old equipment.If only I had purchased more of it in the early days, when it could hardly be given away.I could sell it off now and be better off than I am now.Brilliant Channel.Going to increase my Patrion subs very soon.Thanks for the excellent channel Paul.And the knowledge that you impart.It is appreciated by so many of us.
+Mr Carlson's Lab Let's not forget about soldiers that actually had to carry this boat anchor in the field. Thing probably weights more than a box of grenades, and with box of grenades you can at least defend yourself! ;) Unless you consider throwing this from the roof to the enemy's head as alternative application.
Thanks for the prompt reply to my comment. I had a No 11 Australian army radio R/T set (it too weighed a lot) that not only was tropicalised for work in the Pacific zone but, like your wobbulator, had the circuit diagram on the inside of the removable base. A very useful addition.
Very nice demonstration Paul; I was sold a military breadboard that is built like a tank "heavy". All the potentiometers are wirewound, full of features and a multiple power supply giving unlimited approach to designing. Each section pulls out for easy servicing and I was lucky to get the manual with it. I love military stuff, well built to last.
Such a well built, sturdy apparatus. Just goes to show the difference between long lasting, military engineering and 'built-in obsolescence' consumer electronics!
brilliant bit of old kit ...over here in the UK lots of old ex army surplus are always turning up on ebay and at second hand stores and junk shops ...sadly loads are scrapped as the average person to come across them just think there scrap .....keep up your good work ☺
back in the 80's I had a wobbulator in my workbench. If I remember well, the brand was "Crescent" and instead of a rotary motor for sweeping the L.O., it had one half of the variable capacitor mounted on a huge moving coil (just like a speaker) whereas the other half of the cap was coupled to the center frequency front knob mechanism. If I remember well, that unit went up to 450MHz or so, and I was amazed by the ingenuity behind its design. Cheers from Buenos Aires Paul !!
I would re-stuff those caps, to keep something like this as close to original as possible. Hell, even re-stuff all the caps may be a good idea :) Nice video Paul. I love to see how this older tech was made a the sheer craftsmanship that has been put into such a unit!
Ha ha ha, he said Wobbulator... Hu hu, hu hu... The way the military built things was just astounding! I'll bet the reason they used a mechanical sweep was for pure reliability in the field. Awesome find!
Hernia in a box! The build quality on this old gear is just incredible! I'd clip some notches in the cap cans, pry them open, stuff new caps inside, epoxy around the bases, crimp them back closed, & use a hose clamp with wax paper to clamp it while the epoxy dries. Use the wax paper or Saran wrap. You may not want hose clamps glued on there permanently. I have some USN VTVMs, and a thermal volt meter. The schematics are pasted inside ALL of them.
What a fantastic piece of equipment! I was ready to see a (the usual) massive entanglement of wires and components under the bottom cover, pleasant surprise instead! Thanks for the video!
Fascinating piece of equipment. Love your videos on vintage electronics. Learning a lot that will help me in restoration of my old Geiger counters. Thanks!
Wow, very interesting teardown and explanation of this unit Paul. This time I will say it looks like it was built "FOR" a tank.. I have a big bag of those plug in style NOS capacitors. As we know as old as they are they are only conversation pieces. That manual sweep circuit is interesting. Wonder how they are keeping noise to a minimum there. Will enjoy seeing you get this back up to speck. Thanks for another great tech tip Paul. Thumbs up!
I found one of these in my fathers stuff when he past away, I did not get the time to play with yet but il try to post a picture wen I dig it back out. Its a more portable version as it it smaller but still very hefty. nice to finally see a glimpse of what it can possibly do. Nice job.
Newer technologies may have more bells and whistles than the older gear, but the quality and engineering excellence of older technology is amazing! They really built things to last back in the day. Good luck trying to find that now in our current age of planned obsolesce.
Hi Paul, Wobbulator. NU metal, dzus fastners. Terminology I haven't heard in years. Great video on an old piece of Mil Spec test gear. The wobbulator was used many years ago by Eico in ther sweep generator. Eico however used the movement of the speaker coils inductance to change the sweep rate. Keep up the great work Paul. I thoroughly enjoy your Tech Tip videos. Don
+Donald J. Mangold Hi Don, old64goat, down the list mention a similar unit with a speaker coil design. Heathkit used a saturable reactor to the job, my Singer metrics spectrum analyzer uses the same. Thanks for your kind words!
As far as i can recall, it was quite common for Radio- and TV-sets from the tube era to have schematics sheets in every single unit; that way a repair workshop wouldn't need to have a bunch of different ones in stock on the off-chance that they some day *MIGHT* have to repair a less common unit type. These schematics were in part what led me down the road to become a hobby electronician. :) As always, a very interesting video, Mr. C! Keep up the good work. Greetings from Denmark.
Hi there Mr Carlsson! Will there be a restoration video of this unit? Because I am really looking forward to it. Aldo, I love your videos, keep 'em coming! 😊👍
Beauty and a full schematic as well... that is unheard of these days. I am almost always impressed by this older hardware. Not only is the build quality and attention to detail usually most excellent the manuals read like textbooks. I've learned so much from perusing old test gear manuals -- especially older high-frequency RF gear.
Another awesome video, and an extremely interesting piece of history. I think your lab, btw, probably has more broadcasting, processing and analyzing power than most countries entire intelligence departments. Well done!
Always look forward to your rebuild videos of old gear (test gear a plus). i look forward to the full rebuild video in the future. it was a nice touch to find the schematic under the bottom panel. they sure don't make things like that anymore.
That thing looked like it would have survived a nuclear blast and I bet that really was one of the design criteria. Truly amazing the craftsmen ship that went into that unit. I wonder what it actually cost the government to make it back in the 1950s.
Paul, I've restored a few Mil-Std devices; one concern: finding carbon comp resistors of equivalent tolerance and value (without going down the "metal film" trail). One tip, Gudebrod nylon lacing cord should be used when having to replace wiring contained withing the breakouts/bundles. Thanks for a trip back to our formerly redundant past!
LOL... I started saying I need to use the wobbulator when I wanted to borrow the Aeroflex. Very fun! We got several Wobbulators but that is the only one that we own that is P25 certified by the feds.
And here I thought dynamotors were a clever way to bump DC to high voltage DC! That motorized sweep generator system is something I have never heard of before, that's really cool, almost going back to electro mechanical television!
The capacitor setup in the sweep circuit reminds me of the scanner in Hammond organs. They use that in tandem with some filters to create a phase shifter. They used this to create vibrato in the tone.
I look forward to your rebuilding of this one. I am amazed at how good the condition is. BTW the diagram on the bottom cover was normal for this time period for alot of the Air Force test gear. It was there just in case the T.O. (technical order) was not around.
That schematic looks like it was drawn by the same guy who drew up Leo Fender's schematics..... Very organized, logical, and fairly easy to follow. Those were the days......
I have several Wobbulators taken from APN1 radio altimeters. They have a voice coil driving a dome, much like a compression tweeter that is near silver plated areas on a porcelain plate. The areas tied to a tuned line with a couple acorn tubes that form an oscillator in the UHF range. The Wobbulator coil was driven by an output transformer driven by a tube. They appear to have Alinco magnets.
Wow, that test equipment is in pristine condition. Understood that the caps will need to be replaced, but its so clean, you may want to just plug it in right now! Once you get it going, I will bring by my two BC 1004's for alignment! We both will get a good workout from lugging all those boat anchors
The best I assume the unit was built by either the USA or Canada right it was very interesting to say the least pretty well made to again say the least thank you paul
Paul i can't help but be impressed with editing and even manner approach to these educational videos do you ever have out takes or bloopers just wandering I think with your approach to repairs has something for everone and important stuff you go over more than once in the videos nice complete!!
Excellent video Paul. I think you have your "Teardown" format just right. This is another instance where I appreciate your high quality video and good lighting, particularly when looking at the schematic. The Wobbulator itself is a fascinating piece of equipment; I love the quality of workmanship and general serviceability of military grade gear from that era. Overall, a winner! Thanks. Edit: Did I see a couple of Sprague "Vitamin Q" capacitors on the bottom chassis RHS near the potentiometers? These are gold to the tube audio folks. I have more than a passing connection to this type/grade of equipment. My Dad was a Cdn Navy Radar Tech in WWII and my first lessons in electronics were from him. Looking forward to see this old school high tech piece of gear restored to your exacting standards.
+Shaun Merrigan Thanks for your input Shaun! Ya know, I didn't pay attention to the brand, they very well may be the old Vitamin Q type. When I get into the resto, I will take note.
The BBC Radiophonic Workshop used multiple instances of these back in the 60s and 70s as audio sources for sound effects and theme music for TV programs.
A Radio Collector Mate gave me a 1970 Nordmende Wobbulator for free. All the Tubes were pulled and for now it's only smoking, when I got space again to work on it I will try to restore it... Thank's for the Explaination!
We used a similar one to tune vehicle tracking system front-end receiver filters back in 1988 in South Africa when they were using a 'fox hunt' triangulation system (4 antennas on a square ground-plane on police squad cars) that would rebroadcast two local beacons on the tracking frequency that would allow for a LORAN by proxy location system that was good to a few hundred meters and did not need expensive and easily shielded GPS of the day. The systems were hidden into vehicle upholstery and seats and had no connection besides a wire to charge the small backup cell. I think they were activated from the beacon signals by the tracking company and the police could home in on them quickly.
Vintage military stuff is always so fascinating and the thing looks VERY User Serviceable too, the alan keys and extra fuses under the control plate was a nice touch. Modern electronics just dont compare
Now that the labs are being moved, I will come across it again. It's behind about 10000 pounds of equipment in storage. It will have it's day on the bench :^)
You mentioned the calibration dates, so Heres a tip on that. The reason for 6 months is the quality of the equipment didn't stay in calibration for much more than 6 months, so its reliability was in question. However if its cal. dates were say 3 years instead, then it could be a more reliable piece of test equipment. Signifying the calibration would tend to to be more dependable (Stay in Calibration for a longer period of time.)
It's funny, I have used a wobbulator, but it was a completely different thing. We used it to calibrate the sensors on rotating equipment that measured vibration. It had a rotating disk that was flat but eccentric. Imagine a record player with a spacer under one side. As the record turns you get an upwards movement and hen a downwards movement. We would measure this with a dial indicator, and we could calibrate our probes to this movement. Literately measuring how much it wobbled....
Paul, Believe it or not, I've actually heard of a Wobbulator...even seen one if I'm not mistaken. It was many years ago during my GI days. Hard to remember that far back. LOL It'll be neat to see it once again functional. Good luck with it, my friend. Regards, John
Carl picks up a Collins R390A for a restoration process, alignment and replacement of components ... It would be very interesting to see his talent when dealing with a radio receiver such. A radio show receiver in the hands of a true artist of electronics.
When I worked outside plant for the phone company as a young man, the saying then was that if the test meter wasn't heavy already, then they'd put it in a heavy box to make up for it.
I actually used one of these (SG24/TRM3) mechanical sweep generator beasts in the mid 1970's to perform IF alignments on the Mark 10 IFF transceiver that was used on some old U.S. Navy ships that hadn't yet been converted to the Newest IFF System. The system and the test gear was pretty much worn out by then. We were always having trouble with that flexible coupling. As I recall, it was made with a thin leather membrane and being in a tube environment for years it would dry up and tear simply because of the torque of the motor start up. Repair parts for obsolete equipment was scarce (even the Navy involved itself in Junk Yard mechanics at the time.) I never thought I'd ever see one of those again. Takes me back to my early twenties.
Like seeing an old friend--when this machine last wobbulated, I was beginning a basic electricity course at Lowry AFB en route to becoming an aircraft weapons mechanic. Much later, I was to learn that wobbulated signals centered on 4300 MHz are the basis for commercial aircraft radio altimeters. Somewhere in between, I came to recognize the quarter-turn fasteners on the top of the box as authentic Dzus fasteners, the original quick-release fasteners used on the DC-3. I still have a screwdriver I cut down in 1965 to fit under DC-3 cowl flaps and unlock Dzus fasteners in the engine accessory cowling. Next, I will watch your video on VTVM restoration and learn what I might need before I dig my old Heathkit IM-28 out of the closet. Thanks for the motivation.
+Hopelessand Forlorn
Thanks for taking the time to write. Great story! Glad your enjoying the video's.
Hopelessand Forlorn 6
Weebles used this to fix their TVs and Radios
I think I learn more from your videos on this older tech than I do from some review of the latest manufacturer supplied test gear. Thank you.
You are the Bob Ross of electrical engineering. I love it. Ty.
Thanks for your kind comment Casey!
Great find Mr Carlson. I bet you smiled when you took off the bottom panel. There can't be too many manuals for that unit around anymore. I have an old 50's military FM transceiver (uses 1U4's etc). Was happy to find a schematic printed on a silk material folded away inside. Looking forward to another one of your excellent restorations !
+Todd Anonymous
You Bet! That was a great surprise! One day I will build a portable radio project with those 1 Volt filament tubes. I have quite a few.
+Mr Carlson's Lab looking fowar to that too. (big trasmitter pls)
You might be surprised and find all the caps are still good. I have a lot of 40-60's military test equipment and radios and don't think I have ever changed one yet. I'm always amazed at the quality and durability of milspec capacitors. Many are hermetically sealed. Might be worth unhooking them and testing them for leakage. Thats what I do and haven't changed one yet. Will be nice to see this back up and running. I love old military gear.
Mike
+MikesRadioRepair
Thanks for your comment Mike!
This is a capacitor testing channel, I'm pretty confident they will be carefully checked.
I repair Ampeg Tube Amplifiers and they too paste a copy of the correct Rev schematic inside the cover. I agree 5 Stars all the way !!! Very nice piece of gear you've shown us Paul - thank you.
+Ron C
Thanks Ron!
Every thin I build has a copy of my he schematic inside the unit with a parts map
I know this is a few years back Paul, but what a piece of kit!.You can see it was purpose designed and built especially for the job it did.Which is slightly different to the Marconi R1155 receiver that I am trying hard to fully restore.That was needed quickly, but hey it did an excellent job.Which is a tribute to the electronic guys who designed it.Just absolutely love this old equipment.If only I had purchased more of it in the early days, when it could hardly be given away.I could sell it off now and be better off than I am now.Brilliant Channel.Going to increase my Patrion subs very soon.Thanks for the excellent channel Paul.And the knowledge that you impart.It is appreciated by so many of us.
What a cliffhanger, I searched like a crazy for that restoration video :p
Quite a simple circuit really but built like a battle ship. Can you imagine building to this standard today, the cost would be un thinkable.
+Michael Beeny "An elephant is just a mouse built to government specification." - Robert Heinlein's Lazarus Long
+Michael Beeny
I agree! They could recycle this and build a ship out of it.
+Mr Carlson's Lab Let's not forget about soldiers that actually had to carry this boat anchor in the field. Thing probably weights more than a box of grenades, and with box of grenades you can at least defend yourself! ;) Unless you consider throwing this from the roof to the enemy's head as alternative application.
Definitely not a front line piece of gear more likely used at an airfield repair facility, rear area, or aboard a ship.
+Michael Beeny Kinda like a sixteen cylinder Caddilac!
Thanks for the prompt reply to my comment. I had a No 11 Australian army radio R/T set (it too weighed a lot) that not only was tropicalised for work in the Pacific zone but, like your wobbulator, had the circuit diagram on the inside of the removable base. A very useful addition.
+DAVET38
Thanks for your comment Dave!
Very nice demonstration Paul; I was sold a military breadboard that is built like a tank "heavy". All the potentiometers are wirewound, full of features and a multiple power supply giving unlimited approach to designing. Each section pulls out for easy servicing and I was lucky to get the manual with it. I love military stuff, well built to last.
+John Cunningham
Thanks for your comment John!
Again another wonderful lecture. Congratulations, Mr Carlson!
I am just a hobby tech, love all of your videos and you teach a lot to all who view, keep it up, whish I had an instructor in school like you.Thanks
Such a well built, sturdy apparatus. Just goes to show the difference between long lasting, military engineering and 'built-in obsolescence' consumer electronics!
You explained things excellently, to someone who didn't understand the components description thanks
Another great video, those gray boxes have nice surprises in them and sometime not so great. Looking forward to the rebuild. Keep them comming. Greg
+Gregory West
Thanks Greg!
brilliant bit of old kit ...over here in the UK lots of old ex army surplus are always turning up on ebay and at second hand stores and junk shops ...sadly loads are scrapped as the average person to come across them just think there scrap .....keep up your good work ☺
+retro80s
Thanks!
back in the 80's I had a wobbulator in my workbench. If I remember well, the brand was "Crescent" and instead of a rotary motor for sweeping the L.O., it had one half of the variable capacitor mounted on a huge moving coil (just like a speaker) whereas the other half of the cap was coupled to the center frequency front knob mechanism. If I remember well, that unit went up to 450MHz or so, and I was amazed by the ingenuity behind its design. Cheers from Buenos Aires Paul !!
Thanks for your comment Marcelo!
I would re-stuff those caps, to keep something like this as close to original as possible. Hell, even re-stuff all the caps may be a good idea :) Nice video Paul. I love to see how this older tech was made a the sheer craftsmanship that has been put into such a unit!
+hydrolisk1792
Thanks for your input!
Looking forward to seeing the finished restoration. I have never seen one of these and love the mechanics used to get the job done.
+hankus253
Thanks Hank!
Ha ha ha, he said Wobbulator... Hu hu, hu hu...
The way the military built things was just astounding!
I'll bet the reason they used a mechanical sweep was for pure reliability in the field.
Awesome find!
Very interesting, some great craftsmanship there. Looking forward to the restoration.
+Chuck Legg
Thanks Chuck!
So very interesting, my dad used to talk about Wobulators and I always thought he was kidding.
The older gear has the best parts thumbs up
Hernia in a box! The build quality on this old gear is just incredible! I'd clip some notches in the cap cans, pry them open, stuff new caps inside, epoxy around the bases, crimp them back closed, & use a hose clamp with wax paper to clamp it while the epoxy dries. Use the wax paper or Saran wrap. You may not want hose clamps glued on there permanently. I have some USN VTVMs, and a thermal volt meter. The schematics are pasted inside ALL of them.
+Seth B
That sounds like a nice clean way to rebuild those caps. Thanks for your input!
What a fantastic piece of equipment! I was ready to see a (the usual) massive entanglement of wires and components under the bottom cover, pleasant surprise instead! Thanks for the video!
+Tony T.
They did a nice clean assembly job, that's for sure! Glad you enjoyed Tony.
So cool Paul you refurb older test equipment! Another Very Cool Video!!! Thanks
+llsdigitek
Your welcome!
Thank you for another excellent video, it is always fascinating to see how beautifully made old test equipment was.
Fascinating piece of equipment. Love your videos on vintage electronics. Learning a lot that will help me in restoration of my old Geiger counters. Thanks!
+Geiger Counter Virtual Museum
Your welcome!
Wow, very interesting teardown and explanation of this unit Paul. This time I will say it looks like it was built "FOR" a tank.. I have a big bag of those plug in style NOS capacitors. As we know as old as they are they are only conversation pieces. That manual sweep circuit is interesting. Wonder how they are keeping noise to a minimum there. Will enjoy seeing you get this back up to speck. Thanks for another great tech tip Paul. Thumbs up!
+The Radio Shop
Glad you enjoyed Buddy! Looking forward to your next video :^)
I found one of these in my fathers stuff when he past away, I did not get the time to play with yet but il try to post a picture wen I dig it back out. Its a more portable version as it it smaller but still very hefty. nice to finally see a glimpse of what it can possibly do. Nice job.
Huge creative inspiration im learning alot while also learning hands on chemistry thank you dont stop posting
Newer technologies may have more bells and whistles than the older gear, but the quality and engineering excellence of older technology is amazing! They really built things to last back in the day. Good luck trying to find that now in our current age of planned obsolesce.
+uomo d'onore
I do agree! Thanks for your comment!
Excellent. Can't wait for the restoration video. Hell of a piece of equipment.
+InTheNameOfJustice
Thanks!
Hi Paul,
Wobbulator. NU metal, dzus fastners. Terminology I haven't heard in years. Great video on an old piece of Mil Spec test gear. The wobbulator was used many years ago by Eico in ther sweep generator. Eico however used the movement of the speaker coils inductance to change the sweep rate. Keep up the great work Paul. I thoroughly enjoy your Tech Tip videos.
Don
+Donald J. Mangold
Hi Don, old64goat, down the list mention a similar unit with a speaker coil design. Heathkit used a saturable reactor to the job, my Singer metrics spectrum analyzer uses the same. Thanks for your kind words!
" Mu " metal
As far as i can recall, it was quite common for Radio- and TV-sets from the tube era to have schematics sheets in every single unit; that way a repair workshop wouldn't need to have a bunch of different ones in stock on the off-chance that they some day *MIGHT* have to repair a less common unit type. These schematics were in part what led me down the road to become a hobby electronician. :)
As always, a very interesting video, Mr. C! Keep up the good work.
Greetings from Denmark.
Hi there Mr Carlsson! Will there be a restoration video of this unit? Because I am really looking forward to it. Aldo, I love your videos, keep 'em coming! 😊👍
Fun stuff! Can't wait to see you restore it and fire it up!
+PelDaddy
Me Too! Thanks for your comment.
Thank you very much Paul and looking for the restoration video.
+esmaeil nam
Thanks Esmaeil!
Your logical approach gives me a much needed brain alignment.
Beauty and a full schematic as well... that is unheard of these days. I am almost always impressed by this older hardware. Not only is the build quality and attention to detail usually most excellent the manuals read like textbooks. I've learned so much from perusing old test gear manuals -- especially older high-frequency RF gear.
+Justin “J” Lynn
You bet Justin! That's where you will find the answers, you are on the right track.
That and here. "Woah. You're a cool teacher, Mr Carlson!" :D
Thanks Justin! I appreciate the kind comment.
super old test gear and excellent video Paul. Can't wait until you rebuild it. Take care!
+TRXBench
Thanks Peter! Look forward to your next Video as well.
Enjoyed the video, now patiently waiting for the restoration video ;)
Would love to see the restoration of the wobbulator and a video of it in action.:)
Great vids keep up the great work!
That's a cool unit, looks to be really well built. Thanks for sharing!
Built like a tank, and weighs just as much.
I think Louis Rossmann would shed a tear looking at this.
Another awesome video, and an extremely interesting piece of history. I think your lab, btw, probably has more broadcasting, processing and analyzing power than most countries entire intelligence departments. Well done!
+jrdubois112277
Thanks for your kind words!
Mrs C comes into the lab, hears there's something vibrating in the wobulator. You must have some strange dinner conversations.
Always look forward to your rebuild videos of old gear (test gear a plus). i look forward to the full rebuild video in the future. it was a nice touch to find the schematic under the bottom panel. they sure don't make things like that anymore.
+preludelinux
Thanks for your kind words!
That thing looked like it would have survived a nuclear blast and I bet that really was one of the design criteria. Truly amazing the craftsmen ship that went into that unit. I wonder what it actually cost the government to make it back in the 1950s.
+Bob Wendoloski
I imagine it cost quite a bit. It's sure is built like a tank.
Looking forward to that rebuild, that is quite an interesting piece of equipment!
+Tom k2bew
Thanks Tom!
Cool old piece Paul. Looking forward to the restoration. 73, Bill KC5SB
+rollerbald
Thanks Bill!
Paul, I've restored a few Mil-Std devices; one concern: finding carbon comp resistors of equivalent tolerance and value (without going down the "metal film" trail). One tip, Gudebrod nylon lacing cord should be used when having to replace wiring contained withing the breakouts/bundles. Thanks for a trip back to our formerly redundant past!
+AMStationEngineer
Glad you enjoyed!
Something tells me this makes him happier than a $100 steak dinner.
LOL... I started saying I need to use the wobbulator when I wanted to borrow the Aeroflex. Very fun! We got several Wobbulators but that is the only one that we own that is P25 certified by the feds.
still waiting for you to get back to this old beast....
And here I thought dynamotors were a clever way to bump DC to high voltage DC! That motorized sweep generator system is something I have never heard of before, that's really cool, almost going back to electro mechanical television!
The capacitor setup in the sweep circuit reminds me of the scanner in Hammond organs. They use that in tandem with some filters to create a phase shifter. They used this to create vibrato in the tone.
The only thing better than vintage tech is vintage military tech, great name for a device too, haha. Can't wait for your rebuild on this.
+Detecting History
Thanks!
Great topic. I've heard of these but never looked into what they are/do. Thanx again for great vid.
+jp040759
Your welcome!
I look forward to your rebuilding of this one. I am amazed at how good the condition is. BTW the diagram on the bottom cover was normal for this time period for alot of the Air Force test gear. It was there just in case the T.O. (technical order) was not around.
Thanks for your comment Richard!
You made me want to sign up for you tube, thank you, I have something like your wobbulator. keep up the good work.
Hey, great to read! Welcome aboard! :^)
Looking forward to the restoration video. Thanks for sharing.
+Make Stuff Learn Stuff
Your welcome!
That schematic looks like it was drawn by the same guy who drew up Leo Fender's schematics..... Very organized, logical, and fairly easy to follow. Those were the days......
I find it absolutely impossible to say wobbulator with a straight face.
I don't think you're alone.
Well, naturally, you need to bend your face a little bit in order to get the syllables out ;) .
@@MrCarlsonsLab Your tongue must be at just the correct angle.
I have several Wobbulators taken from APN1 radio altimeters. They have a voice coil driving a dome, much like a compression tweeter that is near silver plated areas on a porcelain plate. The areas tied to a tuned line with a couple acorn tubes that form an oscillator in the UHF range. The Wobbulator coil was driven by an output transformer driven by a tube. They appear to have Alinco magnets.
Wow, that test equipment is in pristine condition. Understood that the caps will need to be replaced, but its so clean, you may want to just plug it in right now! Once you get it going, I will bring by my two BC 1004's for alignment! We both will get a good workout from lugging all those boat anchors
+Scott Johnston
They sure are heavy! Thanks for your comment Scott!
nice piece of kit, I am very much looking forward to the restore
+Mich smi
Thanks Mich!
The best I assume the unit was built by either the USA or Canada right it was very interesting to say the least pretty well made to again say the least thank you paul
Paul i can't help but be impressed with editing and even manner approach to these educational videos do you ever have out takes or bloopers just wandering
I think with your approach to repairs has something for everone and important stuff you go over more than once in the videos nice complete!!
You're good people, Paul. Look forward to you're next video.
+notionSunday
Thanks for your kind words! Glad your enjoying the video's.
nicely done as always, looking forward to the resto
+cybersholt
Thanks!
Excellent video Paul. I think you have your "Teardown" format just right. This is another instance where I appreciate your high quality video and good lighting, particularly when looking at the schematic. The Wobbulator itself is a fascinating piece of equipment; I love the quality of workmanship and general serviceability of military grade gear from that era. Overall, a winner! Thanks.
Edit: Did I see a couple of Sprague "Vitamin Q" capacitors on the bottom chassis RHS near the potentiometers? These are gold to the tube audio folks.
I have more than a passing connection to this type/grade of equipment. My Dad was a Cdn Navy Radar Tech in WWII and my first lessons in electronics were from him. Looking forward to see this old school high tech piece of gear restored to your exacting standards.
+Shaun Merrigan
Thanks for your input Shaun! Ya know, I didn't pay attention to the brand, they very well may be the old Vitamin Q type. When I get into the resto, I will take note.
The BBC Radiophonic Workshop used multiple instances of these back in the 60s and 70s as audio sources for sound effects and theme music for TV programs.
Always wondered what in hell a wobbulator is. Now I know. Thanks for that!
A Radio Collector Mate gave me a 1970 Nordmende Wobbulator for free.
All the Tubes were pulled and for now it's only smoking, when I got space again to work on it I will try to restore it...
Thank's for the Explaination!
You're welcome!
A wobbulator sounds like something that needs it’s blinker fluid changed regularly
That's awesome! Never seen inside anything like that. Looking forward to the rebuild. By the way...you have a beautiful lab.😄
+Jim Owen
Thanks for the kind comment Jim!
Thanks. Liked the video and the explanation. Will be nice to see the wobbulator working once more.
+DAVET38
Thanks Dave!
We used a similar one to tune vehicle tracking system front-end receiver filters back in 1988 in South Africa when they were using a 'fox hunt' triangulation system (4 antennas on a square ground-plane on police squad cars) that would rebroadcast two local beacons on the tracking frequency that would allow for a LORAN by proxy location system that was good to a few hundred meters and did not need expensive and easily shielded GPS of the day. The systems were hidden into vehicle upholstery and seats and had no connection besides a wire to charge the small backup cell. I think they were activated from the beacon signals by the tracking company and the police could home in on them quickly.
Vintage military stuff is always so fascinating and the thing looks VERY User Serviceable too, the alan keys and extra fuses under the control plate was a nice touch. Modern electronics just dont compare
+Nexfero
I agree.
That's a nice piece of test gear.
+wade hicks
I agree Wade! I'm looking forward to restoring it, and trying it out.
Too bad the rebuild video didn't happen. It would have been interesting to get deeper into this thing.
Now that the labs are being moved, I will come across it again. It's behind about 10000 pounds of equipment in storage. It will have it's day on the bench :^)
Another wonderful teardown, thanx
+Jordan Rubin
Thanks Jordan!
Thanks Again for being so informative....
This is fantastic the thought into this is amazing
An awesome piece of history.
+Raymond Earle
Thanks Raymond!
that a coolpiece of equipment history. i can't wait for the rebiled
+Matt K
Thanks Matt!
You mentioned the calibration dates, so Heres a tip on that. The reason for 6 months is the quality of the equipment didn't stay in calibration for much more than 6 months, so its reliability was in question. However if its cal. dates were say 3 years instead, then it could be a more reliable piece of test equipment. Signifying the calibration would tend to to be more dependable (Stay in Calibration for a longer period of time.)
Very cool! Can't wait to see the restoration video!
+PriusPilot
Me too :^)
Let's get to it, let's rebuild it... can't wait to see it working again :)
+trifidsagitarius
Thanks for your comment!
It's funny, I have used a wobbulator, but it was a completely different thing. We used it to calibrate the sensors on rotating equipment that measured vibration. It had a rotating disk that was flat but eccentric. Imagine a record player with a spacer under one side. As the record turns you get an upwards movement and hen a downwards movement. We would measure this with a dial indicator, and we could calibrate our probes to this movement. Literately measuring how much it wobbled....
Paul, Believe it or not, I've actually heard of a Wobbulator...even seen one if I'm not mistaken. It was many years ago during my GI days. Hard to remember that far back. LOL It'll be neat to see it once again functional. Good luck with it, my friend. Regards, John
+joernone
Thanks John!
Wow, this is a fascinating device. Thank you very much for this video. I can't wait for the restoration videos.
+Mike M
Thanks Mike!
Carl picks up a Collins R390A for a restoration process, alignment and replacement of components ... It would be very interesting to see his talent when dealing with a radio receiver such. A radio show receiver in the hands of a true artist of electronics.
+João Damasceno
Thanks Joao!
When I worked outside plant for the phone company as a young man, the saying then was that if the test meter wasn't heavy already, then they'd put it in a heavy box to make up for it.
Brick house. Would be very cool if you could get cases like that for building amplifiers.
I actually used one of these (SG24/TRM3) mechanical sweep generator beasts in the mid 1970's to perform IF alignments on the Mark 10 IFF transceiver that was used on some old U.S. Navy ships that hadn't yet been converted to the Newest IFF System. The system and the test gear was pretty much worn out by then. We were always having trouble with that flexible coupling. As I recall, it was made with a thin leather membrane and being in a tube environment for years it would dry up and tear simply because of the torque of the motor start up. Repair parts for obsolete equipment was scarce (even the Navy involved itself in Junk Yard mechanics at the time.) I never thought I'd ever see one of those again. Takes me back to my early twenties.
+Roger Lamb
Great story Roger! Thanks for sharing that.
That's a beauty! I use an HP675a, another quality bit of kit.
+Simon Spiers
Thanks Simon! The 675A is a nice sweeper as well.
“Unobtanium”.
Video loads fine here! Thank you!